How to Average Likert Scales

Written by charlotte johnson

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Likert scales are commonly used tools in research. This type of evaluation method consists of numbers 1 through 5, which correlate with a person's views. For example, a researcher would give a statement about a topic followed by numbers 1 through 5, with a "1" response indicating "strongly disagree" and "5" corresponding with "strongly agree." Once you have multiple individuals complete a Likert scale survey, you'll need to average your responses in order to evaluate your results.

Skill level:

Easy

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Instructions

1

Collect all Likert scale questionnaires once they have been completed.

2

Beginning with the first question, record the response for each questionnaire.

3

Add the numbers in your list of responses for the first question. For instance, if the numbers for question one were 3, 4, 5, 3, 2, 5, 5, 1, 4, 4, 2, 4 and 5, the total would be 47.

4

Divide the total from Step 3 by the number of responses. In this example, there were 13 responses, so you would perform the following equation in order to find the average response for this particular question on your survey: 47 / 13 = 3.6.